LOS ANGELES - After a surprisingly successful 1993, Nissan Division looks for new products from Japan and closer relations with its dealers to keep the momentum going this year.
It will even mimic the Big 3 and offer a period of free wholesale financing to dealers in 1994.
The 1993 sales success of the Altima sedan and Quest minivan spurred an 18 percent sales gain for the division, which passed Honda Division in volume for the first time since 1987. Dealer profitability was up.
For 1994, Nissan's goal is to top 1993, says Robert Thomas, who became president of Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A. in a management shakeup last March.
The tactics:
An all-new Maxima, a high-volume car due in May.
A reskinned 240SX, sporting different sheet metal but with the same base engine, due in May. Thomas expects only low volumes from the coupe as the company continues its 'sedan strategy.'
A new pickup and Pathfinder reportedly will be in dealerships by year's end.
The new floorplan assistance: 60 days of free wholesale financing or a discount off invoice. Nissan has traditionally billed dealers as of delivery of the vehicle.
Increased emphasis on lifting mediocre customer satisfaction index scores, perhaps even direct payments to dealers for high CSI.
The possibility of building more Sentras in Mexico, to free up the Smyrna, Tenn., plant to build more Altimas. 'Our goal is to maximize Smyrna production. We'll buy everything they can build,' Thomas said.
Thomas has moved more experienced people into the field. And in the last two years, image advertising took a dramatic turn away from sports cars and toward sedans.
The Nissan brass is wary of repeating history. In the mid-1980s, Nissan set its U.S. volume records - 830,767 cars and trucks in 1985. The big numbers were led by the subcompact Sentra and compact pickup, both low-profit lines. Meanwhile, advertising dollars poured into the low-volume 300ZX and 200SX. That confused Nissan's brand image, which was still suffering from the 1982 name change from Datsun.
This time around, Nissan has pledged to remain a sedan-oriented company that also offers a few sports cars. Nissan also has the benefit of building between 60 and 70 percent of its U.S.-sold cars in Smyrna.
Marketing emphasis will clearly be on the Altima, with a diversion to the Maxima when it's launched in May. But once the Maxima is off the ground, emphasis will return to Altima.
Through November, Nissan had sold 585,676 cars and light trucks in America, including 122,079 Altimas. A year ago, Nissan had sold 21,947 of the new Altima and 50,585 of the car it replaced, the imported Stanza.
'People keep asking what will happen to us when we stop advertising Altima,' said Earl Hesterberg, Nissan Division general manager and vice president of Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A. 'That will never happen. That would be like Honda not advertising the Accord, or Toyota with the Camry. New introductions aside, the Altima will continue to be the focal point.'
Insiders say Nissan's advertising budget will rise in 1994. The company spent $120 million on the first six months of the Altima launch, which began in 1992.
NEW PRODUCTS
Until the Altima came along, the Maxima vied with the Sentra as Nissan's volume leader. Nissan brass clearly wants the Maxima to return to the glory days of selling 100,000-plus units a year. It peaked at 112,755 in 1987, and since has meandered in the 90,000-100,000 range since its last styling revision in 1989.
A major thrust of the Maxima launch: Get more female customers. The previous image ads ('Four Door Sports Car') turned off women, who represent only 30 percent of current-generation Maxima owners.
The new Maxima reportedly has luxury appointments more customary in Infiniti than Nissan vehicles, and is between the J30 and Q45 in size, a source said. The new Maxima could cannibalize some J30 sales, the source said.
The other spring release, the revised 240SX, will be downplayed. Hesterberg has set a cautious target of 20,000 units a year - compared to 56,463 sold in 1990 and 21,987 through November 1993.
'We're not going to push it up-
